Thrillers Overview

The thriller film genre revolves around creating suspense for the audience. The different sub genres begin to follow mixed codes and conventions however a thriller usually tries convey a deeper meaning to the plot.

The director of a thriller may try to interpret a combination of extreme long shots and longs shots to establish the location; or another convention is the use of alot of close ups. The use of this is to convey a sense of importance to the audience.
Furthermore from some of the thrillers ive analysed the directors use of mise en scene can be critical in establishing the genre or sub-genre for the audience. To do this the director may use iconic signifiers to create meaning; one example would be a black and white suit perhaps aligned with the James Bond figure. A director may choose to reinforce these signifiers with other props such as pistols, used to further link into the "james bond" icon.
Other aspects of mise en scene that are often explored in thrillers is the use of low key lighting, I have found that a some of these; specifically crime and pyschological thrillers use this to create a mysterious setting. Furthermore the uses of the colour red, black and white are predominant in thrillers, this is because they connote danger and mystery.

From what ive analysed, thriller films try to use sound to either establish an ambience for the location set in the film and to give a sense of verisimilatude for the audience. Or to create mood for the audience, the village for example used high pitched string instruments to implement an uncomfortable feeling for the viewers. The non diegetic music is often used to build suspense, so instruments such as drums can be used to raise the suspense in the scene.

Editing effects such as fades and dissolves are a common feature in thriller opening sequences. This is because it keeps the pace slow to build suspense. The titles in thrillers are generally superimposed onscreen and tend not to be "in your face." What I mean is that the titles arent usually exploding up into whole screen much like that of a typical action movie. The purpose of this is so that the attention of the audience is not diverted from whats happening in the film.

The feel I get from thriller films is that everything is kept subtle, nothing is over the top. Another thing is that the location does not change too much, if at all. The directors attempt to mix the various aspects of cinematography to help create suspense, interest or mystery.